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September 22nd is the the first day of Autumn, and for many kayak anglers it means different things, according to where they live – and fish. In the northern, cooler regions, this date signals fewer kayak fishing trips for a long, long time. W kayak anglers in Alaska, Canada, Maine, Norway and the UK will be limited in the number of hours they can spend outside before it gets dark. Northern W kayak anglers may want to consider getting that cockpit cover out (finally!), or get one in case they haven’t got it yet.

In the deep south it means that you can finally get a break from the heat (and sometimes humidity) or at least start hoping for such a break, and get back on the saddle of your W fishing kayak, until the weather gets a bit too cool for your liking…

And down under, on the other side of the globe known as the Southern Hemisphere, in countries like Australia and New Zealand, this date is the first day of spring, which also means different things to kayak anglers in different regions… accordingly.

Anyway, new seasons bring new species of fish, and that can’t be a bad thing.

Our sales this year grew by 64% compared to 2008, which was our best year so far. This is encouraging in view of the continuing slump in the boat and kayak markets, caused by the economic recession.

Our new W500 kayak series turned to be a resounding success, with W500 kayaks taking the lead over the old war horse, the W300.

Most pleasing is the fact that so many W500 clients have taken the time to send us great reviews and stories.

The W500 seems to be a kayak that people simply LOVE, including those who’ve already owned or used a W300 before. As some of these clients have put it: -“Wavewalk took the world’s best kayak and improved on it!”.

Some W anglers go as far as saying the W500 is better than any small fishing boat, and not just fishing kayaks.

This year we expanded our exports, with shipment to clients in Norway and Australia, and increased our sales in New Zealand and Canada. We look at this geographic expansion with particular satisfaction.

In 2009, more clients have ordered a second, and sometimes even a third W kayak from us. This shows to us that once people get used to W kayaks for either paddling or fishing, they’re not likely to change, or go back to an old-fashion sit-in or SOT kayak. In other words, it means we’re on the right track.

Our website wavewalk.com attracted over 150,000 individual visitors this year, including tens of thousands of returning visitors. This is an annual increase of over a third compared to 2008. Our blog is vibrant with stories, pictures, movies, comments and discussions, and has a growing number of fans – some of which aren’t even Wavewalk customers (yet…) In other words, although we’re still a small company, we’ve already established a significant web presence.

The more we listen to our customers the more we learn, and it helps us improve our products, as well as the service we provide. We would have not succeeded in making the W500 as good as it is without people commenting on their experience with the early models of the W300, and its latest version – the 2008. The blog we introduced in 2008 proved to be an increasingly useful means of communication between our customers and us, as well as between the customers and themselves. This blog is also fun, which is a bonus for everyone 😀

And last but not least – our customers: You people proved to be courageous, patient, creative, supportive, productive and loyal beyond anything we had expected, or deserve 😉 . You people made this year great for Wavewalk, and we are very grateful to you!